Wildlife Wednesday: Great-horned Owls

Spend time at Red Rock Canyon in the evening hours and you just might encounter the great-horned owl (Bubo virginiaus) perched high up in the cliffs & trees. These large birds, with an average wingspan of 48 inches (wingtip to wingtip) and height of 28 inches (foot to head), fly quietly throughout the night hunting and catching rodents, jackrabbits, and cottontails with their powerful talons (feet). Great-horned owls use their superb senses of hearing and seeing to capture food and to communicate with each other. Often they mate for life and live on average 13 years in the wild. Look for great-horned owls along First Creek, Pine Creek, Calico Basin, and Wheeler Camp Spring near the town of Blue Diamond.

Southern Nevada Conservancy, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Las Vegas, NV, serves Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area under a formal agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in many ways, including interpretive programming, fee-station management, retail operations, and this website.